<< Background >>The recourse to human rights enables the European Union (EU) as well as governments and the civil society in the EU to keep the course with normative standards in sustainable conflict transformation. “Simulating Human Rights in Peacebuilding” (SHARINPEACE) aims at qualifying young Europeans, the decision-makers of tomorrow, to conceive and practice human rights as intrinsic part of peacebuilding and of the EU as such.SHARINPEACE addresses the EU-wide need for acquisition of competences in human rights and peacebuilding. The “EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democratisation 2020-2024” defines and confirms this objective and requests its member states to consistently promote human rights and democracy.This addresses the need of educators and researchers to deliver high quality inclusive online education in an international setting. The sudden shift to online and distance learning during the pandemic holds a huge opportunity for higher education institutions (HEI). SHARINPEACE goes one crucial step beyond this unplanned shift: the project increases the capacity and readiness of the partners to manage an effective shift towards digital education by placing an online Crisis Intervention Simulation (CRIS) at the heart of the joint module that is to be developed throughout the project. Simulations are common in the social sciences, but CRIS provides a new type of open-ended simulation, integrating a student perspective as well as an active collaboration with policy/peace makers from the very beginning. In doing so, SHARINPEACE also addresses the students’ needs for an interactive, transnational, and inclusive experience. In the wake of the pandemic, many students have been suffering from isolation and mobility restrictions, finding themselves forced to continue their university education online. CRIS provides a highly interactive and motivating online study experience with a hands-on approach and tangible learning outcomes: Students not only learn de-escalation strategies for conflicts in theory, but also experience them in practice. They acquire digital learning strategies along with inter-cultural competencies through an international and interactive classroom and conference experience. Further blended and physical mobility within the partnership, supported by other Erasmus instruments, will be one of the many intended side effects of the project. Policy/peace makers from international organisations and the civil society are important actors in conflict transformation and peacebuilding in Europe. The EU Action Plan states: “Respect for human rights is an essential element of resilient, inclusive and democratic societies.” Consequently, human rights in peacebuilding must be considered in the work of policy/peace makers. In order for the policy/peace makers to be able to better pursue the political objectives of the EU and the demands of science with regard to the consideration of human rights in conflict transformation in the near future, they need trained personnel. SHARINPEACE includes policy/peace makers in the planning and implementation of the project. With this, SHARINPEACE provides tailored vocational training for future peace makers and also supports the sustainable introduction of human rights in the work of international organisations and/or non-governmental organisations (NGO).<< Objectives >>Through SHARINPEACE, students and educators increase their awareness of how to include human rights in the training of conflict management. The core objective is the implementation of an EU-wide organised two-part module. Students will first gain central competences in the interrelated domains of human rights and peacebuilding and, in the second part, put their gained competences in a network-wide Crisis Intervention Simulation (CRIS) into (simulated) practice.With SHARINPEACE, students acquire competences in human rights and peacebuilding that enable them to respond to major societal issues and to have a more positive attitude towards the European project and EU values. Educators develop and tighten competences in applied interdisciplinary human rights education and learn about the challenges to include human rights and peacebuilding directly from the policy/peace makers. The latter, i.e. experts from the European Commission (EC) and representatives of organisations from the civil society, join in a close exchange with higher education institutions (HEI), and receive tailored concepts on how to include human rights in conflict management.SHARINPEACE aims to achieve four main objectives:(1) SHARINPEACE contributes to a greater comprehension and attention to major challenges of the EU: Human rights and peacebuilding as key elements of Europe’s shared values and as the cornerstones of our democratic constitutions are fundamentally challenged by refugee crises, dynamics of polarisation and radicalisation, new attempts of re-nationalisation and populism or climate change.(2) SHARINPEACE promotes the international cooperation of educators and learners - despite and beyond the pandemic - and implements a unique transnational simulation-based learning (SBL) experience. The project increases capacities in online teaching and learning in order to cope with the necessity for distance learning and to establish and preserve good online teaching and learning practices for a post-COVID era. (3) SHARINPEACE involves policy/peace makers in the design of the module “Human Rights & Peacebuilding” at all stages. Their knowledge and needs support the development of the learning outcomes, and their feedback during the implementation of the project helps to continuously adapt the module.(4) The module “Human Rights & Peacebuilding” marks a crucial step for the consortium towards an Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Programme (EMJM). SHARINPEACE is a key element for a later EMJM application, raising awareness within an extremely heterogeneous and international target group for topics highly relevant in and for the EU, and in increasing the academic collaboration and exchange regarding these topics within the network.<< Implementation >>The main outcome planned within SHARINPEACE is the network-wide accreditation of a two-part module “Human Rights & Peacebuilding”. At the heart of the project and the module is the conceptualisation and implementation of an online Crisis Intervention Simulation (CRIS). It is the large-scale, transnational, online simulation game on a European level. Students take on the role of various real organisations involved in peace, development and human rights in Europe. During CRIS, a real conflict situation is fictitiously escalated, and the students are required to develop strategies for conflict management in the role of the organisations involved. The activities, trainings and meetings are designed in such a way that the planned module is implemented at the end of the project period. We foresee four project phases for the project. The first phase of SHARINPEACE lays grounds for the project by investigating the field of human rights in peacebuilding. In an initial step, we explore the nexus of human rights in peacebuilding in the academic literature. We then analyse the study programmes that relate to human rights. We also conduct interviews with the coordinators of these study programmes. In a next step, we invite stakeholders (students, educators, policy/peace makers) to online workshops to discuss the learning outcomes of our modules. Students are involved in the development of the module through a Student Advisory Board. The educators in the project meet for a Staff Training in order to enlarge their knowledge on competence-based curricula development and the integration of EU-wide modules into national curricula.The second phase of the project is dedicated to the conceptualisation of the module. First, we carry out a competence analysis for learning outcomes of the module, based on the results of the first project phase. We develop a draft syllabus, then decide on and collect the required teaching materials. Important in this phase is the planning of the necessary e-tools for online teaching. Parts of the module are tested and evaluated on a reduced scale. Students and educators reflect on the planning so far. A second staff training is planned at this stage. It is about best practices and exchange in online teaching with a focus on online simulation-based learning (SBL). Central to SHARINPEACE is the cooperation and incorporation of actors in peacebuilding from the European Commission (EC) and from the international civil society. We invite representatives of these organisations to a first virtual Multiplier Event.The third phase of SHARINPEACE consists of a pilot run of the module under real conditions. The didactic and methodological planning of the module has now progressed to the point where it can be tried out. The Student Advisory Board and the policy/peace makers are invited to comment on the evaluation and suggest improvements. Before the pilot runs, our project includes a final Staff Training, which focuses on the tools for evaluation and feedback on modules.The fourth and final phase of the project consists, on the one hand, of disseminating and promoting the module and, on the other hand, of preparing the incorporation of the module into study programmes in the network. The network will present SHARINPEACE in a final multiplier event, at a renowned and international conference, where we will report within our own working group on how the integration of human rights in peacebuilding has succeeded in the module and how we have worked together with the policy/peace makers.<< Results >>The main outcome planned within SHARINPEACE is the network-wide accreditation of a two-part module “Human Rights & Peacebuilding”. During the lifetime of the project, we rely on several tangible outcomes to prepare these steps. With SHARINPEACE, the consortium expects four core outcomes:(1) Implementation of an interdisciplinary and transnational online module “Human Rights & Peacebuilding”.(2) Launch of the online Crisis Intervention Simulation (CRIS) to demonstrate the competences acquired in human rights and peacebuilding.(3) Provision of Open Educational Resources (OER) in human rights and peacebuilding for teaching and learning.(4) Policy recommendations on why and how to introduce innovative teaching and learning in the domain of human rights and peacebuilding in higher education institutions (HEI) in EuropeSHARINPEACE produces six Project Results (PR1-6):- Mapping the Nexus of Human Rights Education and Peacebuilding (PR1)- Stakeholders’ Perspectives: Exploring Needs and Experiences (PR2)- Resources for Teaching and Learning Human Rights in Peacebuilding (PR3)- Tools for Teaching and Learning Human Rights in Peacebuilding (PR4)- Piloting the Module “Human Rights & Peacebuilding” (PR5)- Policy Brief: How to Teach and Learn Human Rights in Peacebuilding in Europe (PR6)One desired long-term outcome is to offer the module including CRIS annually with a slightly different focus. The possibilities are as hugely diverse as they are promising (e.g. global health crises, migration, Green Europe), and could establish the idea of simulation-based learning (SBL) within further academic subjects. New partners could be integrated into the consortium, depending on the expertise and the respective focus of that year’s edition of CRIS. In order to establish a network that is capable of implementing a joint master degree, the partnership will develop the collaboration further and strive to continuously optimise CRIS as the central product of the project. The partnership will use and integrate the lessons learned within the project to lay the foundation for future joint curriculum design, that is clearly student-centred, inclusive, and international.

MILETUS addresses capacity building in the field of virtual, real and blended mobility runs (MR) at Serbian and TURIL (Territory of the Ukraine as recognized by international law) higher education institutions (HEI). By creating the needed governance on a ministerial and institutional level, MILETUS achieves the improvement of Master graduates’ employability chances in companies working internationally and the quality enhancement of PhD students’ research, and thus their contribution to high quality research in the partner countries.To build students mobility capacity, governance of ministries responsible for HE will be improved and functions of existing International Relations Offices at HEIs will be extended or founded newly. Teaching staff will be methodologically prepared for supervision of MR and necessary learning materials will be prepared. Focus on students with disabilities will open up mobility learning experiences to a wider range of students, primarily as a result of tapping into potential of virtual mobility.These virtual MRs for Master students will include tasks that enable mobilizing and developing skills that allow for working in international geographically dispersed teams, under consideration of competences expected of graduates by employers. Deployment of mobility programs addresses the need for broadening collaboration research circle for PhD students ultimately improving the quality of their research.The main outcomes of the project are:• improved governance of students’ mobility programs on a ministerial and institutional levels• framework for virtual, real and blended MRs to guide future implementation also for nonparticipating HEIs• enhanced teaching methodologies during MRs• solid learning basis for students participating in MRs• eased access to mobility programs for students with disabilities• enhanced employability chances for graduates by developing international skills• and broader research collaboration circle for PhD student

The aim of Transdisciplinary Balkan Studies: Geophilosophy of the Balkans (GEOBALKANS) is to modernize educational approaches on crucial issues related to (self)understanding of the region to face up the current and future challenges of reconciliation and Europeanisation. In light of the increasing and resurfacing illiberal tendencies that stall its European perspectives the project starts from the premise that studies in social science and humanities in the Balkans are mostly nationally biased, lacking cross-regional and trans-disciplinary dimension. This bias, notably, critically impairs the processes of reconciliation and democratisation of the region. Based on this, GEOBALKANS’ main objective is the establishment of an integrated, trans-Balkan and trans-European school that will fuse the best European practices in the study of the respective fields, giving them a sound regional dimension, supported through trans-disciplinary cutting-edge methodologies and cooperation in social sciences, humanities and natural sciences, flexible (conventional and digital) study approaches, covered by distinguished regional and European experts in the field. GEOBALKANS consists from a number of incremental and interrelated activities for the achievement of the project objectives and results. Key result of the project will be the establishment of the joint, integrated graduate programme Transdisciplinary Balkan Studies: Geophilosophy of the Balkans. This general objective will be achieved and implemented through a significant number of Intellectual Outputs, Learning/Teaching/Training Activities and Multiplier Events as follows:• 4 Intellectual Outputs (IO1 Methodology and Programme Syllabus, IO2 Training and Learning Materials, IO3 Open Educational Resources, IO4 Model and guide for implementation)• 8 Learning/Teaching/Training Activities (subdivided into 3 Intensive Program for Teaching Staff, followed by 5 Intensive Programmes for Higher Education Learners)• 1 Multiplier EventsBy developing a curriculum for an integrated MA and PhD programme GEOBALKANS will be “supporting individuals in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences” in the field of trans-disciplinary and critical political and social studies of the Balkans, hence providing prospective students and existing teaching staff with innovative methodologies and apparatus of critical and contemporary concepts for analyzing the historical and contemporary socio-political and cultural contexts and phenomena in the Balkans, Europe and world-wide. Bringing together as project partners universities, departments and teaching staff that cut across multiple disciplines and social sciences, which in a joint effort and trans-national partnership will develop programme that goes beyond the strict traditional confines of political sciences studies, the project will offer studying opportunity for students coming from different under-graduate backgrounds, and thus support permeability between the different education and training pathways.The project brings together universities on a trans-Balkans and trans-European level and creates high quality and innovative teaching, learning and research resources for trans-disciplinary and critical studies of the Balkans, while setting reconciliation, justice, equality and promotion of European values as its motivational and forward-looking vision. The project will have a positive effect on the educational function and scope of societal impact of the beneficiary partners, but has the potential to extend towards the local, national and international levels of other Higher Education Institutions and NGOs in all consortium countries through the established networks of researchers, teachers, academics and civil society actors.GEOBALKANS establishes a consortium of five prominent universities that will jointly organize and implement the project. Participants are FON University from Skopje, North Macedonia, SINGIDUNUM University from Belgrade, Serbia, PANTEION University, Greece, L'ORIENTALE University from Naples, Italy and University of VERONA from Verona, Italy.

The new paradigms of electricity grids and markets require that staff employed in electrical energy related jobs as well as electricity end users are properly educated and trained. The electrical engineering curricula in WBC, formed to serve the conventional model of one large scale power grid, owned and operated by one company, need to adapt. ELEMEND is designed to facilitate electrical engineering curricula in WBC to be competitive through teaching and training in smart gird and microgrid technologies and electricity markets. Courses at the BSc level and a MSc programme will be developed; academic and technical staff will be trained; new ICT tools, such as e-learning platforms and gamified content combined with blended learning, will be used; an internship programme will be put in place for the most motivated of the ELEMEND students; a University - enterprise network will be created within the project, around the core group of the ELEMEND industrial partners. The ELEMEND laboratories will be accessible to all partners and are expected to attract research funding while ELEMEND graduates are expected to have increased employability rates and play a leading role in their field. The student projects carried out in ELEMEND labs in the third project year will focus on real‐life problems and are expected to attract the interest of relevant stakeholders. Outputs, such as the e‐learning courses, the gamified applications, the virtual labs, the new courses and Master’s programme are expected to engage new students and relevant target groups after the lifetime of the project as well as enhance public’s awareness.

"The current epidemiological situation around the globe has influenced that universities predominantly conduct their teaching process via Internet. Laboratory teaching is reduced and conducts under health preventive protocols. Partly, universities use WEB-Laboratories (WLs), also. Due to objective circumstances, students are mainly focused on theoretical outcomes of their studies. The subject of this project are fields (chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, technical and engineering sciences) where laboratory work is an absolutely unavoidable and it is very important for understanding and applying the theoretical outcomes of knowledgeProper insight into experimental phenomena and real laboratory experience (according to the world principle of teaching and learning ""mind and hand""), allows students to correctly and faster understand educational goals and theoretical concepts, understand the relationship between reality and theory, acquire professional skills, develop analytical skills, and a high level of knowledge absorption during the teaching process. Laboratory work requires the engagement of great resources (equipment maintenance costs, competent human resources, relevant laboratory infrastructure). In order to reduce the effective costs of an equiped laboratory place per student and provide a relevant level of laboratory support to the teaching process - different universities have integrated their laboratory resources through strategic partnerships in building of joint or open WLs (see Golabz repository https://www.golabz.eu). It is possible to access ta a WL from anywhere at any time, but with only one hardware user at the same time. The existing capacities of the WLs around globe are not enough for a huge number of students, who are oriented to this approach due to the ""COVID-19 - crisis"". It is necessary to increase the number of WLs or to apply some other innovative approaches - in order to solve the needs of the laboratory side of teaching.The proponents of this project believe that for all levels of education, and society as a whole, it is useful to establish and build an open repository of very short and effective video illustrations of experimental phenomena with educational orientation. Such a repository would be a significant resource for digital education (online teaching contents, digital textbooks, support in conventional and blended teaching and learning).The subject of this project is a strategic partnership among project participants to support digital education and laboratory teaching. An innovative concept of creating a joint repository of short video contents of representative experiments for educational purposes is proposed. First of all, the goal of the project is to establish mechanisms and standards for- quality of production of open resources of digital education, as well as for their publication in joint digital repositories, which should include considerations onconcepts of search and categorization of open educational resources, but also another innovative component of this project related to- software organization of digital copies of experimental realizations or a ""digital twin"" of an experiment designed for educational purposes.By ""digital twin"" of a real experiment - we mean a programmable digital reproduction of an already realized experiment, where for the selected inputs activates the ""execution"" of the corresponding measured experimental results with accompanying videos and other monitoring of the experimental realization. The user can select combinations of specific inputs that will activate the execution of already performed experiments for those inputs. The video and diagram presentation of an experiment execution should be adapted to the educational purpose and established project standards.In this way, it is possible to simultaneously activate an unlimited number of digital copies of experimental realizations, which can very successfully replace certain types of WLs, as well as experiments which were not organized through a WL. The obvious advantages of this approach are in attainability, and possibilities of efficient use and maintenance costs.This approach is not effective when the goal of laboratory work is to program specialized hardware or verify research results. Therefore, the goals of this project include the generation of instructions for the construction of two WLs for programming and application of specialized hardware (FPGA and Arduino platform).The project should encourage, enable and regulate the creation of new digital educational resources, their selection and publication in a joint open repository, as well as a creation of new WLs. Exemplary initial contents will be offered by this project in all relevant fields, as well as instructions and tutorials for their production. The strategic partnership of institutions on building a repository of open educational resources will be based on the development of relevant mechanisms"